Officially In: Gordon Gray to Tunis

On June 11, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Gordon Gray to be Ambassador to the Republic of Tunisia. official bio released by the WH below:

Gordon Gray served as Senior Advisor to the Ambassador at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq from June 2008 until May 2009. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Mr. Gray joined the Foreign Service in 1982. Prior to his assignment in Iraq, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs from 2005 to 2008; his responsibilities included the promotion of U.S. interests in the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa, and oversight of the Bureau’s Regional Affairs office.

Mr. Gray was the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Egypt from 2002 until 2005. His other foreign assignments include Morocco (where he began his career in government as a Peace Corps volunteer), Pakistan, Jordan, and Canada. Mr. Gray served in Washington as the director of the office of Arabian Peninsula affairs, the office of peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, and the counterterrorism regional affairs office.

Mr. Gray holds a B.A. from Yale University and an M.A. from Columbia University.

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If confirmed, Mr. Gray would succeed career diplomat, Robert F. Godec (one of our three ambassadors who blogs) who was appointed to post in 2006. I went back all the way to 1956, the date when the Embassy in Tunis was established. I could not find a single political appointee to this post! Folks this is right on the Med!